A Jordanian doctor has been charged in connection with foiled car bomb plots in London and Glasgow, police said Thursday. Dr. Mohammed Jamil Asha, 26, was charged with conspiracy to cause explosions, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said on condition of anonymity, in line with department policy. Source: [AP]
As a Jordanian, all I can say is that I’m really disappointed to see a fellow citizen involved in such a heinous act. What a waste of life for this young doctor.
Since moving to the US two years ago, I have dreaded going to the hairdresser. One reason for this is the fact that styling your hair in this country is just too damn expensive. The price of a haircut here is really excessive, especially if you want a stylish cut. The last time I decided to do that I paid around $70, partly due to my "long hair," which stipulated higher charges.
Another reason is the the myriad of comments I usually receive about my hair whenever I make a journey to the beauty salon. Besides the usual comments about the length of my hair, hairdressers (of all nationalities, including one Hispanic and one South Korean) often make annoyed remarks about the amount of hair I have on my head. Apparently, I have "too much hair," which seems to tire hairdressers here. I find the comment about the quantity of my hair particularly amusing since back in Jordan my hairdresser used to complain about my "light hair." "You must be using a large amount of conditioner. It is very light," my Amman-based hairdresser used to tell me. I guess the gauge for "normal" amounts of hair varies across continents.
So last weekend I got a haircut. Refusing to pay $70, I went to the McDonalds of US beauty salons: the Hair Cuttery. The outcome was satisfactory. I got a decent haircut for $19 but when I asked my South Korean hairdresser about a blow-dry she said she would charge me $20 additional because I have "long hair." Hearing this figure, I immediately nixed the idea. To win me back she offered to charge me the "regular length hair" price of $10. I agreed and ended up paying $33 (including tip) to get this more mainstream haircut. I was satisfied. It definitely beats the $70 I paid several months ago for a "stylish" one. Of course, once again I had to endure comments like, "You have beautiful, healthy hair but it is too much hair." I was willing to put up with that one last time for the reduced charge.
While getting my hair done at the Hair Cuttery, I suddenly felt nostalgic. I missed my hairdresser back in Amman who charged me $10 for both a haircut and a blow-dry. This service, of course, came with a cup of Turkish coffee and a very nice chat as Arabic pop music played in the background. Sigh! Who would have thought that haircuts could reveal such curious cultural comparatives.
I got the following message from my Dubai-based friend this morning:
I got the habit of checking your website every now and then. However, recently i haven’t been able to as it gives me a weird message: "Network Error (tcp_error) A communication error occurred: "Operation timed out". The Web Server may be down, too busy, or experiencing other problems preventing it from responding to requests. You may wish to try again at a later time. For assistance, contact Customer Support."
When I asked about it, they told me it has been blocked in Dubai. Do you know or can do anything about it? 7aram it’s a nice site. By the way, people in Media City can check your site since their communication is provided by DU, the rest of Dubai’s communication is provided by Etisalat who are blocking the site.
Can anyone confirm this? I really can’t see the reason for my blog being blocked in the UAE or anywhere else for that matter. I rarely blog about controversial issues. Most of the material in my blog reads like a personal journal. Could it just be a technical error? Can anyone shed light on this?
Update: So far I’ve received two responses from Dubai residents, one confirming the message above, the other saying that this blog can be accessed normally through Etisalat. Who knows?
The album is a gem in every sense of the word! Winehouse’s voice is so powerful that it gives you goosebumps instantly. Her breathtaking album was released last year and it took me all this time to get around to listening to it.
I was really blown away by the talent of this young British soul singer who according to The New Yorker is "a fierce English performer whose voice combines the smoky depths of a jazz chanteuse with the heated passion of a soul singer." From Rehab to You Know I’m No Good to Back to Black, every song on this album is a hit! Really, where was I all this time? How could I have missed such an incredible talent? Time to leave the planet!
I was very pleased to stumble upon the website of my former colleague Rana Husseini, who is currently working on a book on honor crimes. I really can’t wait to put my hands on this intensive piece of work. According to her site, the book:
… will provide people with a credible source based on real-life experience tackling a sensitive issue which is often susceptible to misconception. The book is entitled Murder in the name of honour and is expected to be published in the next few months.
Since moving to the US two years ago, I have dreaded going to the hairdresser. One reason for this is the fact that styling your hair in this country is just too damn expensive. The price of a haircut here is really excessive, especially if you want a stylish cut. The last time I decided to do that I paid around $70, partly due to my "long hair," which stipulated higher charges.
I was very pleased to stumble upon